LSU Composers Forum features three pieces by instructor

Three compositions by an instructor at LSMSA were featured during the LSU Composers Forum hosted by the College of Music and Dramatic Arts School of Music and presented on Wednesday, March 21.

Dr. Al Benner, senior lecturer of instrumentals, theory and composition and chair of the Department of Creative and Performing Arts, is experienced as a piano accompanist and conductor with more than 60 published works.

The pieces were “XII for Clarinet Trio,” “3 ‘Cs’ for 2” and “Cane River Promenade for Clarinet and Piano.”

His music has been performed throughout the United States and Canada, including New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He has also been played at the Vatican and several cities throughout Norway, Greece and the Czech Republic.

Benner has received numerous commissions from organizations, institutions and individuals, such as the Louisiana Association of Symphony Orchestras, St. Norbert College and the Louisiana Sinfonietta. His awards include ASCAP Standard Awards, the Composers Commissioning Award from the Louisiana Music Teachers Association and the Audience Choice Award from the Louisiana Sinfonietta’s String Quartet Festival of New Works.

He is the former editor of Composer/USA, the bulletin of the National Association of Composers, USA, and a member of their national advisory board; editor of the “Music of America” reprint series by Conners Publications; founder of the Wisconsin and Louisiana Composers Consortiums; commissioning chair for LMTA; and advisory board member of the Louisiana Sinfonietta.